What Happens Now?
by Julia Black
Summary: RyanMarissa. How the two deal with what happened in The Dearly Beloved. RR
1. Chapter 1

"God, why did this happen?" Marissa looked up to her bedroom ceiling and squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wishing that she would just wakeup from what had to be a terrible nightmare.

Unfortunately, this was not a nightmare. She opened her eyes only to be still standing in her bedroom. She slowly breathed in and shuddered. Blood. All she could smell was blood: Trey's and Ryan's blood. She looked down to her shirt.

"Oh Jesus." She hadn't realized that her shirt was stained with it. She was only now regaining her senses as the shock was wearing off. She pulled her shirt over her head and not knowing what to do with it, walked to her bathroom and dropped it in the tub.

It was at this instant that she fully grasped what had happened only a few hours ago. Her legs wobbled and her head started spinning. She collapsed in the corner of the bathroom and dropped her head in her hands, the tears falling freely in her palms.

"I shot someone…oh God, I may have killed someone." Bang! Marissa jolted at the sound of the gunshot in her mind and then sunk even lower to the ground, as if trying to hide from her memories. She was in the same position now as when she had shot Trey. All she could see was his face, looking at her after he realized what she had just done. His eyes were burned into her sole. The next few hours were a blur; the emergency room, the police station, the drive home with her parents. But those eyes, she would never forget those eyes.

"Trey." She whispered his name. Ryan's brother. She remembered the first time she had met him. She was with Ryan last thanksgiving visiting him in prison. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel about him at that time. But oddly she remembered feeling connected to him somehow; he was a part of Ryan, the boy she loved and the man she still loved now. Marissa had only affectionate feelings for anything or anyone that was a part of Ryan. Maybe that was why when Trey was released this year and came to stay with the Cohen's that she felt this overwhelming urge to help him. She knew that he meant a lot to Ryan, and she wanted nothing more than for the two brothers to somehow re-connect, forge a bond. Marissa would do anything to see Ryan happy, and she truly felt that Trey being a part of his life would be nothing but positive. She knew of his past, but if Ryan could change, she was sure that Trey could too.

Her mind suddenly arrived at the beach that night; her and Trey's celebration party. She knew something wasn't right, the look in his eyes, the way he said her name.

"How could we all have been so wrong about him?" she asked herself. Marissa remembered waking up the next morning and feeling so many things at once: hurt, anger, hate, but most of all sadness. She didn't feel sadness so much for herself, but more for Ryan. How could someone hurt Ryan the way Trey had? Ryan was just starting to trust Trey again, just starting to relish in the fact that he had his brother back. And now this. She knew she couldn't tell him. She couldn't bear to be the one to turn his world upside down. It was that decision that ultimately got them all to the tragic situation that they were in now. Her mind suddenly flashed back to when she had first walked in Trey's apartment and how she found the two brothers. For the first time that night she remembered Ryan's choking face. She was so scared; she knew that she wouldn't be strong enough to force Trey off of him. When he picked up the phone and aimed it at Ryan's head, she knew she had to stop him somehow. Thinking about it now, it seemed as if her eyes were drawn to the gun on the floor. She didn't even think twice when she picked it up, she just did the only thing she could to stop Trey. Whatever consequences she would suffer for her actions, she knew it couldn't possibly be worse than losing Ryan.

Marissa took a shaky breath and lifted her head to focus her eyes on the wall opposite her. She didn't want Trey to die, but she knew at this moment that she would never regret what she did. She would have hell to pay, but Ryan was alive and safe, and that's all Marissa cared about. "I love him so much" she whispered.

She was shaking now; not so much from the chill of the cold, hard wall of her bathroom, but from the realization that her life, and Ryan's will be forever changed. Tears were again cascading down her cheeks. She wished Ryan was with her right now; she needed to feel his arms around her. For a second she considered going to see him, than a terrifying realization struck her. "He probably never wants to see me again." She wondered if Ryan would blame her for everything. If she just hadn't tried so hard to push Trey into Ryan's life again, this never would have happened. "Will he ever be able to forgive me?"


	2. Chapter 2

Like Marissa had a short while ago, Ryan took a slow, shuddering breath. He was standing in front of the Cooper-Nichol Mansion, staring at the door. He had been like this for the last ten minutes, frozen, not knowing what to do.

"Should I even be here right now?" He asked himself. It was too soon he thought. He should wait until the shock of what happened wore off from both of them.

"What would I even say to her? That everything will be alright?" Ryan closed his eyes. That would be lying, and the last thing either of them needed right now would be dishonesty. He couldn't make this right for her, or for him. No one could. He thought of her face after she had shot Trey. She looked horrified, shattered. He only saw her briefly after that in the emergency room, but her expression hadn't changed.

"Would she even want to see me?" He thought. He was the reason that all of this happened. He was the one who brought Trey into her life. And she had shot Trey to save him.

"She saved my life." The realization hit him hard, as if someone had punched him in the chest. From the moment the gun went off, he didn't even consider feeling angry towards Marissa, he really felt nothing. He had been numb for the last three hours. But now, he was being drowned with emotions. "She saved my life," he repeated to himself. "And now she's living in hell because she loved me enough to pick up a gun and shoot another man."

He wondered now if Trey was going to live. He hoped so, not for the obvious reason, but because if he lived, things would be easier for Marissa. She wouldn't have to be charged with murder, she wouldn't have to live with the fact that she ended a life. "My brother's life," Ryan thought. "No, he's not my brother." A brother would never do what Trey did. He would've murdered his own flesh and blood if Marissa hadn't stopped him. More importantly Ryan thought, he hurt Marissa, the person he cared about most in the world. His eyes watered as he thought of everything she had done for Trey. How could anyone want to hurt her? And even though Trey was the one lying in a hospital bed, he was hurting Marissa again now. "God, I love her." His feelings were becoming clear now. Ryan felt for Trey the same way he felt when he went to his apartment tonight: hatred. Pure hatred. And he loved Marissa, and this night wasn't going to change that. He just wondered now if she still felt the same way about him. "Will she ever be able to forgive me?"

Ryan reached out and softly knocked on the door. He wasn't going to run away from this, avoid what happened. He didn't know if he was what Marissa needed right now, but he had to find out. As he waited for the door to open, he realized that something else was keeping him from turning around: he needed her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ryan." Jimmy Cooper stood in the doorway. His face was strained with exhaustion, his eyes filled with worry. He had stayed close to the porch, waiting for Ryan to knock. He knew that his daughter's boyfriend would be showing up sometime tonight, and had been watching him from the window since he had stepped up to the door. He had watched the emotions swim over the young man's face. He couldn't imagine what Ryan was going through. What his daughter was going through. No matter how much he or Julie tried to console Marissa, he knew that the only person that would help her through this would be Ryan. He knew that they would have to pull through this together. He just hoped that Ryan wouldn't desert his daughter now, when she needed him the most. Thankfully, Ryan erased those fears for him.

Jimmy immediately pulled Ryan into a hug. He hadn't had the chance to see him and talk about what happened yet. But he knew that now wasn't the time; they could get to that later. "I'm so sorry" was all he said. He felt Ryan nod his head in his shoulder, then pull back to look at him.

"Mr. Cooper, I…" Ryan began.

Jimmy held up his hand. He knew Ryan well enough to know that he was blaming himself for what happened. It made his heart ache. "Hey, we can talk about all this in the morning. Right now, there's someone else who needs you."

Ryan once again just nodded his head. He could see the sincerity in Jimmy's eyes. He had known it before, but again he thought that this was who made Marissa the amazing person she is. "This is where she got her heart," he thought.

"She's in her room," Jimmy said, stepping to the side to let Ryan in. "And I doubt that she's sleeping."

"Thanks." Ryan's voice was barely a whisper.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he took one last long breath and looked up towards her room before he started his way up. He sensed that his legs were shaking as he climbed, in fact, his whole body was shaking slightly. He was scared. Would he be able to handle the pain and confusion in her eyes? Would he be able to handle his own pain and confusion if she told him she never wanted to see him again?

Her bedroom door was slightly ajar. It was dark and quiet. He decided against knocking; a part of him didn't want to risk giving her the change to refuse his entry. As Ryan stepped inside, he noticed that there was a dim light coming from the bathroom. "Marissa?" Silence. After what seemed to Ryan like hours, he finally heard her small, shaky voice from the bathroom.

"Ryan?" He could hear so many things in that one word; sorrow, confusion, and hope. But not anger, not resentment. The hope in her voice is what gave him the courage to walk towards it.

Tears threatened to fall when he saw her crouched in the corner of the bathroom. He wouldn't let them; he had to be strong for her now. They got even more difficult to hold back as he continued to look at her. Somehow the paleness of her face made her eyes look even bigger and bluer. Her bare arms and shoulders made her look so vulnerable, so fragile. "Oh, Marissa," he whispered. He looked behind him to find something to cover her in. After picking up a quilt off her bed, he walked back in the bathroom and bent down to wrap it around her. He looked at her again and held her face in his hands. He had no words, he couldn't find the right ones. Apparently she had the same problem because she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. They didn't need words. Everything they both needed to know expressed themselves through their gazes. What happened tonight hadn't changed what was in either of their hearts; if anything, the love that was there was stronger.

Suddenly she just wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She started to sob uncontrollably. As he picked her up in his arms, the bloody shirt in the bathtub caught his eyes. He couldn't be strong anymore. He matched her sob for sob, tear for tear as he carried her to the bed.

Ryan sat on the edge of the bed, Marissa in his lap. They just held on to each other, neither one daring to let go, even after the crying subsided. Finally Marissa lifted her face to his. "I'm so sorry Ryan." She studied the bruises and scratches on his face and she had to swallow the lump in her throat to prevent another flow of tears. She lifted a hand to carefully touch his swollen jaw. He closed his eyes, and nodded. Her one simple touch helped ease some the pain he was feeling. Then he spoke.

"Sorry for what?" Ryan's voice was gentle; he needed her to know that he didn't blame her. "For saving my life? Marissa, if it wasn't for what you did, I would be the one…" He couldn't finish that sentence; he caught the look in her eyes, she didn't need that visual. "I'm the one who's sorry. I got you into this situation; I practically put the gun in your hands." He looked down in shame.

"What, no, Ryan." Marissa lifted his face again so he would meet her eyes. "You can't take the blame for this. If I had only told you myself what really happened between Trey and me, or reported him like I should have, I wouldn't have needed to…" This time it was Marissa who couldn't complete her words. But she knew that they would never move on from this if they couldn't face reality. "Shoot Trey."

They both feel silent again, as if letting those two words sink into their soul. Ryan softly brushed the hair off of Marissa's face. "You were only trying to protect me. I can't say that things would have turned out very differently if I had found out another way; I would have still wanted to hurt him for what he did." Ryan paused and took Marissa's hands in his own. "I'm so sorry for what he did to you." He looked away and clenched his jaw. "If only I had been there, he wouldn't have hurt you."

Marissa felt his body tense up. "Ryan, how could you know? How could anyone? You are not responsible for Trey's actions." She didn't want to go any further with this conversation. She was exhausted. She looked into Ryan's eyes pleadingly. She had to make him realize that she did not blame him for any of this.

He seemed to understand because he softly kissed her on the lips before pulling her into a tight hug. "Okay. We can't blame ourselves, that's not going to help us through this. There's only one person who's responsible, and he's never going to hurt us again." Marissa nodded into his shoulder. Ryan pulled back and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "No one is ever going to hurt you again, I promise you that."

Marissa placed her hand on his cheek and looked him in the eyes. "I love you," she whispered.

Ryan turned his face into her hand and kissed her palm. "I love you too, so much."

Their lips met and developed into a slow kiss; not hard or urgent, but soft and gentle. They seemed to gain strength from their intertwined bodies; nothing else existed, just the two of them. They shifted their bodies so that they were lying down on the bed. They couldn't get close enough, they had to enclose every space between them. Finally, both breathless, their lips separated, but the rest of their bodies remained connected.

"Stay with me," Marissa breathed.

"I'm not going anywhere," Ryan responded. He let his hand rub up and down her back They maneuvered themselves under the covers, and for several minutes they just lay there in silence, both enjoying the other's breath on their face, the sound of their heartbeats. Ryan could feel his eyes start to drift close when Marissa's voice made them open.

"Ryan?" Her voice was shaky, and Ryan's heart dropped when he heard the fear in it.

"Yeah?"

"What happens now?" She was holding her breath.

"I'm not sure. But whatever happens, we'll get through this together.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mmm…Marissa?" Ryan tried to snuggle closer to her body, but soon realized through his sleepy haze that she wasn't beside him. "Marissa," he mumbled again. He squinted his eyes and put his arm up to shield them from the glaring sun shining through Marissa's balcony doors. He looked at the clock radio next to the bed and focused his eyes on the numbers. 8:18 am. "What is she doing up already?" He wondered. "This isn't normal." He, like anyone who knew Marissa, would be surprised to see her awake before dawn on a Saturday.

Ryan then sat up, taking in the sensations of pain and discomfort from his back and head. He eyes were fully open now, and he was aware. Aware of why he was in Marissa's bedroom, why he felt like he'd been hit by a truck, why Marissa was up so early. "Okay, this is happening," he whispered. "Last night happened." A million thoughts were racing through his mind, but the one thought that caused him to shudder was the very one that Marissa had asked last night; what happens now? Was Trey going to die? Will Sandy be able to help them? Would Marissa go to prison? Would they both go to prison? He shook his head, he was not going there. He wasn't sure if it was best, but he refused to acknowledge that this situation could get worse. No, Trey would be okay and Sandy would convince him to not press charges, he and Marissa would get past this and enjoy the summer together. Maybe they could take a trip somewhere…

He was interrupted from his reverie when Marissa stepped out from the bathroom in a robe and a towel wrapped over her hair. For a split second Ryan read the look on her delicate features. Her face still hadn't regained its color and her brows were furrowed with worry. Her eyes were bloodshot; she had been crying in the shower. Her eyes met Ryan's and she immediately tried to compose herself. She sat down on the bed next to him. "You're awake," she said through a forced smile. "Did you sleep well?"

Ryan knew she was trying to be brave for him, and it made him feel like he fell just a little bit more in love with her; something he thought would be impossible. "Alright I guess." He reached out and softly brushed his thumb across her eyebrow. "You?"

She bit her bottom lip and quickly turned her body to get off the bed, hoping Ryan hadn't noticed her eyes fill with tears. He had. "Umm, not so good," she whispered. She started to dry her hair with the towel. "Sandy called earlier. He wants us to meet him at your house when we're ready." She started to randomly pick up objects from her dresser and place them back down, as if to distract herself from the flood of tears that she was trying to desperately to hold back. "He sounded pretty good ya know, not as worried as I would have thought."

Ryan frowned. Her voice was shaking. He just wanted her to let it out; she had every right to cry and scream. The harder she tried to hold it all in, the more worried Ryan would get. He got up and walked towards her. He stopped when he was facing her and lifted her chin up so she would look at him. She seemed to be looking everywhere but his face, but he waited patiently until she met his gaze. "I'm scared too Marissa, it's okay." At his gentle words, she dropped her head on his shoulder and sobbed quietly.

After a minute she lifted her head and took a deep breath. "I'm just so…"

"Come on, let it out," Ryan coaxed.

Marissa nodded. "I'm just so angry, and sad, and frightened – I'm just so everything!" Her hands were made into tight fists, and she violently dropped them to her sides. "It's just not fair!" She was almost shouting.

Ryan was relived to see some color flush in her cheeks, and her eyes were starting to gain back some of their sparkle. He was right, expressing her emotions were helping. He cupped her face and lightly pressed his forehead on hers. "I know. But you can't shut me out."

Marissa softly kissed him on the lips. The two of them allowed a small smile to spread across their faces. "I promise I won't if you promise you won't," she said quietly but seriously.

Ryan returned her kiss. "I promise." He dropped his hands to the small of her back and stepped closer to hold her in a tight hug. "Let's go see Sandy."

Twenty minutes later Ryan pulled into the Cohen's driveway in the Range Rover. He stepped out and met Marissa at the front of the vehicle. He took her hand when he saw the hesitant look in her eyes. "I'm gonna take a quick shower before we start the day. You can wait for me in the pool house or get some breakfast if you want."

"I'll just wait for you. I'm not too hungry yet."

"Okay." Ryan started to walk towards the back with Marissa following. "I'll just be a few minutes," he commented when they stepped inside.

"Yep." Marissa took a seat on one of the barstools and grabbed a magazine that was lying on the counter close to her. "So this is where I left this," she thought. It was a magazine she had bought last month that she had left here before she had a chance to read. "I guess Ryan had no use for this." She smiled to herself as she started to flip through pages of the May edition of Cosmo. Her smile quickly disappeared when she came to a page that made her hand fly up to her mouth. "Oh my God," she gasped. She was staring at a photograph of Ryan and Trey that she had tucked within the pages of the magazine. They were laughing, with their arms around each other's shoulders. She forgot about this pictures; she had taken it at Trey's surprise birthday party and was planning on framing it for Ryan.

Marissa felt like she couldn't breathe, the room was spinning, she needed air. She ran out of the pool house and flopped on one of the deck chairs. She let her face drop in her hands and her body racked with sobs.

Ryan was drying off from his shower and starting to get dressed in his bathroom. "Hey, I think we have some of those cinnamon bagels that you like," he shouted to Marissa. He waited for a response. Nothing. Ryan stepped out of the bathroom and found the pool house empty. He looked out the window and spotted her by the pool. He didn't have to study her carefully to see that she was crying. "What set her off?" He wondered. She seemed to have calmed down before they left her house. Something caught his eye on the kitchen counter and he walked towards the stool that Marissa was sitting on. Ryan picked up the picture and closed his eyes as he let out a heavy sigh. "Christ." He dropped the picture as if it was burning his fingers and made his way towards Marissa.

"Not gettin any breaks, are we?" Marissa was startled by Ryan's voice above her. She winced as she realized that she had ran out of the pool house without hiding the photo. She looked up at his face. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. She wiped her own eyes.

"No more crying," she silently demanded herself. "Oh Ryan, I'm so sorry. I had forgotten about it."

"Hey, it's okay." It suddenly struck him that Trey might not be alive; no doubt that was what Marissa was thinking when she saw the photograph. His heart started beating faster. Marissa seemed to reading his thoughts.

"Let's go find Sandy," Marissa said as she stood up. "He can tell us how he's doing." Sandy hadn't mentioned Trey's condition when he called this morning; that must be good she convinced herself.

They stepped into the kitchen to find Seth and Summer preparing bowls of cereal, four of them. "Hey," Seth looked exhausted, but like Marissa had for Ryan, he put up a brave front and plastered a supportive grin on his face. "It's good to see you guys here, you know, together and okay." He and Summer had wondered if last night would serve to completely destroy Ryan and Marissa's relationship, but both were relieved when Sandy told them this morning that Ryan had spent the night at Marissa's. "I'm so sorry man." Seth stepped towards Ryan and grabbed him in a hug. As he did this, Summer practically ran to Marissa and did the same.

"Oh, Coop, are you alright?" Summer freely let the tears stream down her face. She for one, didn't feel that holding back feelings would help anyone right now.

Marissa held on tightly to her best friend; she knew Summer would be here for her in whatever way she needed; she was so grateful for that. "We'll be okay. You guys?"

Summer smoothed the hair off Marissa's forehead. "Well you know Cohen, his wit and sarcasm comes in useful in hard times."

Marissa smiled and looked at Seth. "Yeah, don't we know it," Ryan laughed. The four switched places; Summer hugging Ryan and Seth hugging Marissa.

When they had all separated, Seth cleared his throat. "Well, we're all in this together." He and Summer, like Ryan and Marissa, were suffering from an overwhelming feeling of guilt; that they were responsible for what happened. But now wasn't the time to talk about fault, and they all knew it.

Just then Sandy walked into the kitchen. He was wearing the same clothes he had on when he arrived at the hospital the night before, and he looked like he had just been through a war. He looked sympathetically at the group and silently prayed for what had to be the millionth time that this whole ordeal would go away. But it wasn't going to, and he knew that he would have to fight like he's never fought before to help these kids – his kids.

"Well I'm glad you're all here. Get your breakfast and head to the living room. We've got a long day ahead of us."


	5. Chapter 5

The five of them settled in the living room; Ryan and Marissa sharing one loveseat, Seth and Summer another, while Sandy took an arm chair facing the pairs. Although they tried, no one could get comfortable, they each sat stiffly on the edge of their seats. Ryan squeezed Marissa's hand. He knew what Marissa was about to have to do; talk about the attack. Ryan suddenly held his breath. Last night, he hadn't asked Marissa any details about the attack; he realized now it was because he didn't want to hear any; he _couldn't_. He turned his head to look at Marissa; by the look on her face, she was thinking the same thing as him. As painful as it was going to be for Ryan to hear how his brother brutalized Marissa, he knew that it couldn't compare to what Marissa must have gone through, what she's still going through.

Marissa squeezed Ryan's hand back. She was wondering if Ryan realized what they were going have to tell Sandy. She knew enough about lawyers, God knows her family has dealt with them enough, to expect that Sandy would want details, all of them. He was going to need an explanation as to why Ryan and Trey fought last night. "This is going to be tough," she thought. She could ask the other three to leave the room so she could talk privately with Sandy. No, these people were her best friends, her family, and she wanted them to be there; like Seth said, they were in this together. Maybe if she talked about the attack, the feelings of fear and shame would somehow dissipate.

Sandy ran his hands over his face,took a deep breath and prepared to get right down to business. "Okay guys, I know there's a story behind this, so start from the very beginning, and don't leave out any details, even if you think they're irrelevant." He looked at Ryan. "How did you end up at Trey's apartment?"

Ryan shifted forward a bit on the loveseat and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word out, Marissa cleared her throat and interrupted him. "Actually Mr. Cohen, I think I should start," she said as she looked from Ryan to him, her voice barely a whisper.

Sandy shifted his gaze to her face. "Alright." He had been up all night thinking about what could have caused this tragedy. He had a number of theories, and he was afraid of what one Marissa would reveal was right.

"I guess it all started when you guys were in Miami for the break." Marissa eyes seemed to be fixed on a spot on the floor, and her voice was more than a little shaky. Sandy pursed his eyebrows in confusion, but sat back a little and let her continue.

"I hung out with Trey, just as friends of course, and I helped him land a job at The Bait Shop. That night, which was the 17th, I went over to his place to help him celebrate. It was just the two of us, I brought over food and a movie." She then lifted her head to look Sandy in the eyes. "I promise you Mr. Cohen, I never gave Trey any reason to think that we were any more than friends. I really thought he knew how much I cared about Ryan." She looked down again. "I mean, that's the reason why I wanted to be friends with Trey."

"Hey, we all know that Coop," Summer commented softly. "Anyone would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not know how much you're into Chino." She flashed a small grin at Marissa. She hated to see her best friend in this kind of pain and wanted to do whatever it took to help Marissa get over this. Her comment was rewarded because both she and Ryan grinned back.

"Summer's right, Trey knew that Marissa and I were serious," Ryan said. "And she didn't give me any reason to think that she was into Trey either," Ryan thought to himself. A sharp surge of guilt ran through him as he remembered practically accusing her of hooking up with Trey. "God, how could I have been so stupid; she must have been horrified." Ryan glanced at Marissa and thought about how amazing she was. She forgave him so easily that morning at school, and again at prom. "I'll repay her one day," he vowed silently.

"Okay Marissa, I wanna hear more about this night. Were you two drinking?" Sandy asked.

Marissa quickly nodded her head and glanced up in shame. Everyone in the room knew her history with alcohol, and even though she's had that issue under control for awhile, she still hated admitting that, especially to Ryan. "Trey made drinks for us; they must have been really strong, because I only had a couple when I started to feel like I needed some fresh air." She noticed the look of concern on Sandy's face; her being drunk that night certainly wouldn't help their case. For the second time she looked Sandy square in the eyes. "I remember everything clearly…especially what happened next."

All four teenagers dropped their heads. Sandy straightened up, anxious to find out what Marissa was getting at. "What happened?" He asked quietly.

Marissa breathed in slowly. "Trey went to follow me outside, but stopped because he forgot something. I think when I was waiting for him, he must have done something, some drug, because when he stepped out, he was like a completely different person. He was acting crazy, like he was all of a sudden full of energy. He started howling, and picked me up and spun me around. Then he started talking about how no one's ever treated him like I did, and how great he thought I was, and how much he thought we fit together. That's when he really started to scare me. I tried to tell him that I could never feel that way towards him, I mean _Ryan_, but he just wouldn't listen."

A single tear slowly slid down her cheek. Everyone was silent. Summer was staring at Marissa's face, her own eyes ready to spill. Seth still had his head down and now his eyes were closed; he started to think that he now understood how upset Ryan had gotten, if that had been Summer…Ryan's jaw was clenched as he listened to Marissa re-live that night. He closed his eyes in an attempt to prevent envisioning what must have happened next. He felt Marissa tremble, and knew that anger was not what she needed right now. "It's okay," he whispered into Marissa's ear, and gently kissed her temple. He wrapped his arm tightly around her waist, as if for protection.

"He thought that I was trying to tell him that he wasn't good enough for me, and started to get angry. I told him that that's not what I meant, but he was out of control by then. He was trying to kiss me, and I just couldn't pull away from him." Marissa was struggling to not start sobbing as tears flowed freely and dropped on her lap. "He pushed me down on the sand, him on top of me, and started to tear at my clothes, saying that no one would have to know."

Sandy slowly closed his eyes. This is what he was afraid of. "Did he-?"

"No," Marissa quickly responded. "At first I couldn't push him off, but I finally grabbed a piece of driftwood from the ground and hit him in the head. I didn't manage to knock him out, but I got away and just ran home." As soon as she had stopped speaking she turned to Ryan and buried her face in his shoulder. He immediately wrapped his other arm around her and embraced her tightly.

Sandy let out a breath that he seemed to be holding since Marissa started speaking. It was all falling into place, he understood Ryan's motive now. "So Ryan found out last night, and that's why he went to see Trey?" Everyone nodded.

Marissa turned her head back towards Sandy. I just couldn't bear to tell Ryan what happened, and to be honest, I really thought that Trey would, so I didn't say anything to anyone."

"Trey tried to convince me that Marissa had come on to him that night and that they had hooked up," Ryan added, his voice low. "I knew something happened, something wasn't right with either of them, especially Marissa. So I asked him about it, and he looked me in the eye and _swore_ that Marissa betrayed me." Ryan looked down in shame. "I almost believed him, but in the end thought that he was just trying to mess things up between us because he wanted a shot with her."

Sandy was nodding his head as he listened. "So how did you find out?"

"That's where we come in," Seth admitted quietly.

Summer joined in. "Yeah, like Ryan, I knew something was wrong with Marissa and that it concerned Trey. I sensed this awkwardness between them, and then there was this suspicious bruise on Marissa's chest."

"I finally had to tell someone," Marissa explained. "It was eating me up inside, so I told Summer yesterday."

"And then Summer told me, and I immediately told Ryan," Seth said, looking guiltily at Ryan and Marissa, then at his father. "I'm so sorry for the way I handled it; I know I should have come to you first. I just got so freaked out, I just thought that if it had been Summer that been attacked, I would want to know."

Sandy nodded at his son. He understood that Seth had no way to know the best way to handle this type of situation, how could he? And how could he blame Ryan for wanting to confront Trey the way he did? Sandy couldn't even fathom the thought of what he would do to someone who hurt Kirsten like Trey had hurt Marissa.

The four finished the story for Sandy; Ryan explaining how Trey admitted what he'd done, how Trey pointed a gun at him, the fight that followed. Marissa explained walking in finding Trey about to kill Ryan, how she couldn't pull him off, how she picked up the gun and aimed. And Seth and Summer explained what they had walked in on after hearing a gunshot from the parking lot.

Sandy stood up after he had taken in everything that was said. "Well, we can expect that detectives will be here eventually to hear the same story, but maybe we should try to relax until then. Nothing can really be done until…" He stopped. He realized that neither of them knew about Trey's condition. "Until Trey wakes up, if he does."

"So he's alive?" Marissa quickly straightened up. The other three also perked up, looking at Sandy's face anxiously.

"He is. But he's in a coma for now, so we'll all have to play the waiting game. Just pray that he pulls through."

Ryan slowly nodded his head. He would, for Marissa's sake.

Sandy was about to turn and walk back towards the kitchen, but paused when he saw the terrified expressions on the teen's faces. He smiled tiredly, but encouragingly. "We got a good shot."


End file.
